marty_supreme

The other Safdie made an Uncut Pingpong Gems and it's pretty great - it is co-produced by leading actor Timothée Chalamet and is loosely inspired by New York pingpongist Marty Resiman.

Safdie movies kinda escalate like these clips:

This is a movie about table tennis, and it starts off with the promise that we will get 180 minutes of Marty's ambitious drive towards greatness. After one smooth swing, though, our snakebitten cast plunges ass-first into a world of swirling shit. Every scene and sequence is propelled by Timothée's extremely engaging portrayal of the titular character. He drives the dialogue forward with new characters and we watch it bounce back and forth like a table tennis match - he always has a response and it is often a shot or challenge to the other person.

The ends justify any means for Marty, and he spends the duration of the film making like the worst decisions possible and then running from an ever-increasing list of skeletons. Reminiscent of Uncut Gems, he thinks he will dig his way out of his hole and just keeps doing the same crazy stuff. It gets tense, but at least there are no text messages dinging the whole time.

Besides Kevin O'Leary (not sure why he's in here), the performance were excellent and engaging. Fran Drescher as Marty's mother was such a surprise and I loved every second of her on the screen - she was a great casting choice. They interact only a few times, but in her apartment is the one place where Marty is on the emotional back foot. He is a completely different person in her presence and the scene where he returns home and gifts her a rock is absolutely dripping with irony and subtext. Josh Safdie displays brilliance in so many different ways in this film, and this is certainly one of them.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Odessa A'zion both impress as well. Gwyneth as washed up Hollywood actress Kay Stone has been there, done that, and her wisdom prevails in spite of her faltering career. Marty's reckless behavior still brings her down to earth in a sobering moment at her show's afterparty.

The film is not very focused on Marty's ability as a table tennis player: we get it, though. The movie demonstrates his abilities early on and we are convinced by that and even more by his undying confidence. It is mostly about him being, well...

I'm something of a performer myself.

Performer first, athlete second. Every waking moment of Marty's day, he's grifting or conning or on some sort of charm offensive to get to the next thing. He's always got one big goal he's aiming for at any given time and doesn't really seem to care who needs to be stepped over to get to it. He is drawn to those of his ilk - Kay Stone, Rachel, Wally - and is completely opposed to those who are simply themselves. His nemesis Endo is a deaf and stoic Japanese table tennis master. Endo defeats Marty in a finals match early on, and it becomes a turning point for Marty. He screams and rages in Endo's unmoving face and throws a trash can in the arena. These moments are printed into Japanese newspapers. He was propped up as some western cartoon, and from that moment on he leans into the cultivation of the Marty persona.

The topic of the Harlem Globetrotters comes up a few times, and Marty initially decries his comparison to them. Early on, he considers himself just an athlete and nothing more. Eventually, he experiences some small successes with social scheming and as the Safdie-lanche grows, he changes his tune - the Globetrotters are peak athletes who are also peak performers.

The film concludes with some very satisfying self-immolating fireworks. He aimed for sun (land of the rising) and landed right smack in the middle of it.

This is one of those 2.5 hour movies that feels like it was 90 minutes. Incredible pacing, editing, and an absolutely baller soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin.

I mean, damn.

This is like The Social Network level of texture added to these scenes.

I had a bunch of fun watching this and was given so much to chew on after I left. Very awesome movie.